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What We Believe series

Publisher: Apologia Press
Author: John Hay and others
Review last updated: November 2009		 Instant KeyPublishers InfoPricingProduct Photos

What We Believe series

Apologia Press is making a foray into worldview education with the first of a projected series of four books in the "What We Believe" series.

These books introduce the basic ideas and questions that help children to construct a biblical Christian worldview. The publisher suggests using the books with children ages 6 through 14, although I think children beyond age 12 are likely to find the presentation too young.

Only the first book, Who is God? And Can I Really Know Him?, is available in 2009. Coauthored by David Webb and John Hay, the book has ten lessons that might take about two weeks each to complete. A suggested lesson schedule outlines activities for three days per week. Of course, you can modify this to suit your situation.

The teacher's manual for this course is free at the Apologia website. The password to access it is in the hardcover book. You will likely want to print out this material since it walks you through the entire lesson, expanding with teaching notes, discussion questions, and other helpful information.

Each lesson has a number of components. First, an introduction briefly reviews previous topics then presents the "big idea" of the upcoming lesson. This is followed by a box with a list of lesson objectives. Many of the lessons feature a fictional story about children representing various worldviews. The stories are especially helpful for making the abstract ideas of worldview more concrete for younger learners. Stories are followed by discussion questions that also help children grasp the ideas as well as implications for their own lives.

Children who can write should keep a notebook as they cover the lessons. Each lesson has a list of vocabulary words and definitions that should be recorded as well as two Bible verses that might also be used for memorization. Free, formatted, notebooking pages are available at the Apologia website, again using the password provided in the book. These pages include some with extended Bible learning activities as well.

About twice per lesson, there will be a box titled "Make a Note of It." These boxes might provide a list of questions for students to answer, an extended reading from Scripture with a reflection question, or something similar. These are not simple comprehension questions; they are thought provoking questions to which students should write responses in their notebooks. They are likely to be very challenging for children in the primary grades, so you should adapt and/or discuss them rather than using them as written assignments with young students.

Lessons also include a brief article that integrates other topics such as the arts, science, and history. For example, an article on the eruption of Mt. St. Helens discusses natural disasters in the context of the fallen world that resulted from original sin.

Some lessons include hands on activities such as creating a Mobius Strip or making S'Mores Clusters to eat. Some of these relate directly to lesson concepts, while others seem to be marginally connected.

Godly character traits are taught through "What Should I Do?" sections. Children learn appropriate responses, given what they have just learned about God and their relationship to Him. Prayers conclude the main part of each lesson.

Two final sections develop worldview concepts at a deeper level. You might skip the first of these with younger children since it deals with more abstract ideas. But it should help older children begin to develop some understanding and skill with apologetics. The final section, created in partnership with Summit Ministries, shows a worldview model being constructed like a building. Ideally, you should purchase the model from Summit Ministries. If you don't want to do that, there are visual models on the website that you can print out and use to convey the same ideas. Note that construction of the model begins with the first book, but is actually completed as you work through the other three books.

The six-page introduction of this book explains how to use it, although it does not really alert you to the fact that there is extensive, additional teaching material at the website. It suggests that students might read through the book on their own, writing in their notebooks as they complete the various sections. However, I think the layout of the lessons (especially with the teaching information from the website) really lends itself best to family read-aloud and discussion. Even independent readers should be discussing some of the questions from each lesson aloud. Possibly a combination of independent and family study would work with older students.

The hardcover books are illustrated in full color, and children will need to look at some of these illustrations as they listen to or read the lesson material, but the cost makes it unlikely that families will purchase more than one or two books.

As far as the content, Who is God? And Can I Really Know Him? introduces foundational ideas as to the existence of God, our ability to recognize truth, the nature of God, the Trinity, God as creator, the Fall, the purpose of our existence, our relationship to God, the problem of sin and separation from God, and the necessity of Jesus for salvation. The theological underpinnings are Protestant. It reflects a younger earth understanding although it is implicit in the presentation rather than explicit. The focus in that area is primarily on God as Creator rather than on the potentially controversial aspects.

The ideas presented in Who is God? are actually quite challenging even though they are presented in a way that younger students can at least begin to think about them. However, I do have some concern that younger students might find some of the ideas a bit too abstract to hold their attention. They are likely to stay tuned in to the stories about children and some of the activities, and they are likely to pick up at least some of the concepts, so I would not dismiss the idea of using it with younger children.

I applaud Apologia for trying to introduce worldview education at younger levels. Too many students are already thoroughly convinced that God cannot be real by the time they hit high school and might gain exposure to most of the other worldview presentations.

Note: a Notebooking Journal and a Coloring Book are now available as companion resources for Who is God? The first is great for older students and the latter for younger. The Notebooking Journal adds more challenging activities that are appropriate for junior high students. Both items are optional but very helpful.

Pricing

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            • Instant Key

            • Suitable for: best for family study but might be used for independent study.
              Audience age: ages 6 -14
              Prep time needed: minimal or none
              Presentation time needed:               moderate to high
              Religious perspective:
              Christian (Protestant)

            Publisher's Info

            • Apologia Educational Ministries

              1106 Meridian Plaza, Suite 220
              Anderson, IN 46016

              888.524.4724
              email: mailbag@apologia.com
              www.apologia.com